Art of filtration



Aug. 16, 1932. E. KlNNlsoN I 1,871,891

\ ART. OF FILTRATION Filed April 17, 1930 2 sheets-sheet 1 ug- 16,1932 w. E. KxNNlsoN l L87L891 v ART OF FILTRATION Filed April 17, 1930. Z'Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented ug. 16, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT. OEICIE'.`

WLLIAH E. KINNISON, OF'CASPEB, W'YOHING,ASSIGNOR TO 'STANDARD OIL COHPANY F INDIANA, 0F WRITING, INDIANA, .A CORPORATION OF INDIANA am' or summon Application led April 17,

The present invention relates to the art of ltration, and more particularl to the ltration, of paraiin wax, or ot er wax, or fusible substance from chilled oil, or other vehicle. The invention will be fully understood from the following description, illustrated by the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a broken longitudinal seco tional view oa lter press, onlya few of thed filter members or plates being shown; an

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional 'view of the filter members or plates shown in Fi 1, 23 showing them in expanded condition w en sub-atmospheric pressure is applied to the press for the removal of liquid from the wax space between the iilter elements.

Referring ings, the n eral 10 indicates the stationary head of a filter press, which may be'mounted upon a suitable support, and the numeral 11, the movable head, whichmay be forced in the direction of the stationary head 10 by means of the plun er 12, actuated by hydraulic or other suitaile means. The arrangement of these parts may be that customary in filter presses, and is not described herein, in detail. 80

ly fastene on each side of the disks 14 serve g to hold the perforate disks 16 in position and likewise form thickenedrims for the lter member itself. p

A flexible filter sheet or blanket 18 comprising any suitable porous sheet material,

5 such as woven fabric, wire, vor both wire and ore particularly to the drawf leso. serial 1ro.` 445,052.

fabric, is applied on each side of the filter members, such cloths being provided with openings aligning with, but somewhat smaller in diameter than, the openings 15 of plates 14. They filter cloths18, 18, on both sides of each' 'filter member or disk 13 are sewed tight-v ly together around their openings within the openlng 15 in each plate 14, as shown at 19, and the outer edgesof the cloths may be sultably loosely stitched together in any suitv able manner, preferably at intervals, in order to maintain the cloths in proper position when the filter members 13 are not pressed together between the heads 10 and 11. lThe filter members 13 are mounted between the heads of the press, and inl normal operation are held tightly together by pressure applied to the movable head 11. The cloths or blan` kets 18 referably are so formed that they are capa le of beingr expanded or flexed outwardly and into contact with` the cloth of the next adjacent filter element, as shown in Fig. 2. To obtain this result. or function, the cloths may be cut rather :full or loose.

The stationary head 10 is provided with an opening 20, alined with the openings through the filter elements ofthe press. A

feed pipe 21 communicates with the openin 20 and `is connected to a pair of pipes 22 an A plurality of lter members 13 are disposed between the heads 10 and 11 of the .f

23 provided, respectively, with valves 24 and 25. A pipe 26 provided with a valve 27 communicates with pipe 22, preferably at a point intermediate thel valve 24 and its juncture with the pipe 21. The pipe 22 may lead from a suitable source of the chilled oil to be liltered, while the pipe 26 may lead from a source of hot liquid, such as water.

The pipe 23 extends downwardly to a point substantially below the lower -edges of the filter elements 13 and preferably its lower end is closed by means of a liquid seal which ma be maintained by any suitable means, suc as the sump-box, shown at 28.

In operation, the press being considerpd to i have been previously chilled, chilled oil containing parafin wax is lforced into the press under pressure through pipes 22 and 21, valve 24 .being open and valves 25 and 27 being closed. The entire press during the operation is held under pressure in the customary manwax spaces, When the latter are substantially lled the introduction or" chilled oil is stopped. 'llhe wax may be removed from the spaces between the lter elements in accordance with the method disclosed in U. S. patent to Fiiield, No. 1,455,436, wherein hot duid isA employed to melt the wax and force 51 through the lter elements and out of the ter. To e'ect removal of the wax, water at a suitable temperature (above 180 F. and preferably about 200 F.) is introduced into the press through pipes 27, 22 and 21, valve v 27 being open and valves 24 and 25 being closed. The hot water rapidly melts the wax' inthe press, the relatively hi h position of the liquid passageway forme by the openings in the iilter elements causing all the wax above the passage as well as that below it to be melted. Suitable pressure may he maintained upon the water and the melted wax drains through the lter cloths into the interior of .the filter members and out of the press through the spaces formed between the rings 17 and plates 141 by the wire mesh screens 16. The melted wax is separately collected for further treatment after separatpn of Water from the melted wax by sete t 'n 'le removal of the water tra ped in the wax-receiving spaces between the filtering elements has been a troublesome operation. This water remains within the press because the filter cloths offer sufficient resistance so that pressure is required to force fluid through them. It will be apparent that the wax remaining in the cloths will tend to increase their resistance to water. Heretofore this water has been removed by :forcing compressed air into the press. But when a rtion of the water has been forced out bythe air, large uantities of air will pass through the ilter c oths. l the operation is very slow and ineiiicient,

It will be apfparent that any water in the interior of the lter members 13 will readily drain out the space between the rings 17 and plates 14. According to the present invention the water remaining in the wax spaces between the filter members 13 is removed by creating a sub-atmospheric pressure within the filter press and the pipes 21 and 23. When such a sub-atmospheric pressure is applied, the cloths 18 will be drawn outwardly Thus, it will be seen that Lenser away from their respective plates 14 and screens 16 and toward the cloth of the next adjacent lter. Thus, the water will. be forced out into the passageway formed by the aligned openings in the ilter members,

' and through the opening 20 and pipes 21 and 23. It is preferred that the filter members be soconstructed that the cloths normally assume the positions shown in Fi l (Fig. l shows the position or condition o the cloths when the press is empty and when the pressure conditions are substantially the same on both sides of the cloth). lt will be noted from Fig. 1 that the cloths under such conditions are .spaced from the cloth of the next filter member adjacent 'the openings in the said filter members and contact each other at a point adjacent the edge of the filter members. By means of such' structure, the filter cloths 18, when subatmospheric pressure is maintained within the press, will first begin to squeeze against each other adjacent their outer" edges and as the water is, forced out from between the filtering members and into the passageway formed by the alined openings in the filter members, more and more of the surface of the cloths will be squeezed together until they assume the position shown in Fig. 2.

ln order to eect removal of water from the wax spaces between the lilter members,

quent s ueezing of the water from the wax spaces y the expansion of the cloths 18. The cloths 18 are of such texture and contain suflicient wax that they will permit substantially'no air to iiow through them and into the press. I

After the Water has been removed from the press, the latter is chilled by the passage of cold pressed oil or of chilled wax-bearing oil. In the latter case the drips taken from the press before it is thoroughly chilled must again be chilled and pressed.

It is to be understood that any suitable means may be employed for eiecting a subatmospheric pressure within the filter press, for example a suction pump may be provided in line 23.

Although the inventionhas been described in connection with certain specific details of cept in so far as included in the accompanying claims.

claim 1. In a filter ress of the type described, parallel flexible lter elements having a discharge opening spaced from the bottom thereof, means for holding the periphery of said elements together to form a chamber for holding a slurry when the elements are flexed outwardly, and means for lexing said elements inwardly to discharge liquids from said chamber through said opening. 1

2. In a ilter, a plurality o pairs of distensible parallel filter elements having alined openings therein spaced from the bottom thereof, means for holdin together the peripheries of each pair 'of e ements whereby a chamber is formed therebetween when said elements are distended outwardly, means for securing an element of one pair to the contiguous element of another pair of filter elements around said opening whereby a continuous conduit is formed through the lilter,

means for withdrawing filtrate from the spaces between said chambers, and means forA exing said lilter elements in each pair toward each other for dispelling liquids' from said chambers through said conduit.

3. In a lilter, a plurality of pairs of distensible parallel filter elements having alined openings therein spaced from thebottom thereof, means for holding together the' y peripheries of each pair of. elements whereby a chamber is formed therebetween when said elements aire distended outwardly, means for securing an element of one pair to the contiguous element of another pair of filter elements around said opening whereby a contlnuous conduit is formed through the filter,

means for introducingslurries and liquids into said chambers, means for withdrawing filtrate from spaces between'said chambers,

and a barometric tube connected with one end of said conduit, whereby liquids may be discharged rom said chambers by the inward distention of the filter elements caused by the partial vacuum produced by the barometric tube.

4. In operating a filter of the type wherein adjacent portions of liexible filter cloth entrap a liquid, the method of removing the liquid therefrom which comprises flexing. said portions of lilter cloth whereby they are forced against each other to expel the entrapped liquid therefrom.

5,. The method of claim 4 whereby the flexing of the filter elements isobtained by creating a partial vacuum betweenthe adjacent portions of the filter cloth.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto set my signature, this 27th day of March, 1930.

WILLIAM E. KINNISON. 

